The day was April 19th and Chan Ho Park was on the mound. The game was going like most of Park’s other starts, him pitching relatively crappy, and the Phillies so far after five innings couldn’t muster any offense. So as Adrian Gonzalez hits his fifth homer of the year off Park and balloons his ERA to 8.68 things were not looking good. Park would be done after five innings, four earned runs, and dreams of  Happ being the 5th starter dancing in Phillies fan’s heads. Instead, it would be Happ entering the game to try to limit the damage Park had done so far. Happ went the next three innings surrendering only three hits and allowing no runs, followed by Condrey pitching a scoreless ninth to keep our Fightins in the game.

Up to this point in the sixth inning Josh Geer, a relative unknown at this point and maybe still now, was shutting the Phils down but the Phils would now show some signs of life. It all started with an errant throw that allowed the former beard Eric Bruntlett to reach second base which Utley promptly followed with a homer to right field. Fast forward to the 8th inning. With Geer out of the game the Phils would strike for another run off of a lead off homer by Jimmy. The game was now 4-3 setting up a chance for magic in the bottom of the 9th.

Fat ass closer Heath Bell was not available today because he had pitched the previous four days and needed rest, which led to Edwin Moreno coming in to try to finish this one off. Howard would lead off the inning with his 3rd hit of the day, a flare to center field that excited Wheels with its flareness. This of course brought Raul to the plate. Now Raul was still settling in as a Phillie, but he had given us a couple other reasons as to why he might become a fan favorite ’round these parts. Such as the two run homer in the ring ceremony game come back. So after working the count 2-0 in his favor, and sticking the end of his bat in his crotch once,  Raul launched a high breaking ball into the right field stands for a Phillies victory.

I mark this as the day that “RAUUUUUUUUUUL” was born.

Topps, in an effort to get ahead of the game, decided to include Cliff Lee in their Opening Day series as a Mariner. After some harmless photoshopping they came up with a pretty good representation of what Clifton will look like in a Mariners uni. Only one problem, are the Mariners honoring HK this year with a patch identical to the one The Fightins wore last year? I think it’s time again to hop in my roflcopter and do a barrellawl.

(H/T to Phillies Zone and Crossing Broad)

I know no one wants to hear about the Mets any more than they absolutely have to, but this is something that has to be put out there and will be the last of the Mets talk I promise. Recently in an interview with The Sporting News Roy Halladay was asked who the best pitcher in the NL East was. Here was his response:

“I’d never vote for myself,” Halladay, 32, told the magazine when asked whether he was the best pitcher in the NL East.

He said New York Mets lefthander Johan Santana”has always been fun to watch. The way Cole pitched in the playoffs a couple of years ago and at times last year, I think he’s up there. Some of the Marlins’ younger guys are scary - Josh Johnson. There’s a lot of talent.”

Notice no mention of himself. Halladay prefers his talking to be done on the field, unlike one of the pitchers he had just complimented, one Johan Santana. According to Brian Costa, Mets beat writer for the Star Ledger, when asked the same question Santana had this to say:

“Santana”

Nice. Now please follow me ATJ for more proof than you actually need as to why Halladay is, in fact, the better pitcher.

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According to Star Ledger Mets beat reporter Brian Costa, David Wright had this little nugget to say to reporters today:

“We expect to win the National League East.”

That statement literally makes me want to hop in my roflcopter and fly straight to lmaoland to ride the lollercoaster. Now you could say “Well, what is he supposed to say? We don’t expect to win?” and the answer is, yes. After three straight embarrassing years you would think someone on the Mets would learn to dodge such statements and just stick with the cliches. At least he didn’t say they are the team to beat? Then again, there’s still plenty of time for Jason Bay to say that.

This is from quite a while ago, but this was the first time I saw it and felt it should be shared. Here you see former(most likely) Phillie Pedro Martinez working his jheri curl as only he can on Bronson Arroyo’s boat, the “Nasty Hook” last March during spring training. So this is why Pedro didn’t sign in spring training? Honestly I hope he did better than horse face here with the Bud Light. Sorry guys, I got nothin’ here, it’s Pedro on a boat. Enjoy.

Another picture of Pedro on the boat with horse face and some fat guy ATJ followed by the link to the pics if you want to see Bronson Arroyo looking like a douche bag as always…

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So with all the craziness going on last July about the Phillies possibly acquiring Roy Halladay, and then ultimately nabbing Clifton Phifer Lee, one can be certain there were many things we didn’t know about the whole situation. The Toronto Sun posted an article entitled “The Anatomy of the Doc deal” which basically goes through a timeline and gives tidbits of information most of us had not heard. While I must say that looking at this article a lot seems to be conjecture, but I did see this one quote that could be put in the “Oh No She Di’int” category by some. Here is said quote:

Dec. 17: Philadelphia

The Phillies introduce Halladay and give him No. 34, the same uniform Lee wore.

“That should have been ours in July,” Halladay’s wife Brandy jokes to reporters.

Rather bold of Mrs. Halladay don’t you think?

I happen to be one who does miss Clifton and listening to those post trade interviews really made me feel sick to my stomach, but getting the best pitcher in baseball definitely offset those feelings. This stance being opposed by those who can’t look past what would have been with a Halladay, Lee, Hamels, 1-2-3 punch. Now I really don’t want to open that argument all over again, what I want to know is do we look at this quote as the best pitcher in the game and his wife wanting so badly to be in Philadelphia, or do you think the comment was a little out of line considering how upset Lee was to be traded?

The Phillies have officially added arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball to their rotation. Yes, they did have to give up Clifton Phifer, but this is absolutely not a lateral move. If you watched the presser you saw Ruben address the concerns of the Phillies being “cheap” as you may hear the stupidest man alive, Howard Eskin, spouting out on 610 WIP. Moving Lee was a baseball decision and we simply could not leave the “cupboard bare” for the future. But people this is Harry Leroy mo’ fuckin Halladay. If you aren’t excited, you don’t have a pulse.

Here are some things that some players around the league had to say about Halladay, including our own Rauuuul:

Raúl Ibáñez said “He’s definitely got the best stuff that I’ve seen — I’d put him right up there with Pedro [Martinez] in 1999. His sinker and his cutter, they’re going in completely opposite directions. Even if you guess right, it doesn’t mean you hit it, because he locates them so well. If he was in New York or Boston, fans would know more about him. But in baseball circles, he’s the best. Respectfully, he’s so good that it’s fun to try to compete against him. “He comes right at you. Even if you take an 0 for 4, you’re so locked in — you want to face the best. He’s the biggest challenge out there.”

Alex Cora said “He is such a complete pitcher. I’ve seen him give up four runs to us, then he ends up going nine. He has so many pitches. If the cutter isn’t working, he goes with the changeup. If the changeup isn’t working, he goes with the breaking ball. If that’s not working, he makes something up. I used to tell Petey [Pedro Martinez] that if I was a general manager, and Roy was a free agent, I’d go over to his house, I’d give him a contract, I’d tell him to fill in a number and I’ll be happy.”

Aubrey Huff was quoted as saying “He’s not 96-97 [mph], he’s not overpowering, but he’s got that cutter, that sinker. He hits his spots and he never makes a mistake. He’ll throw that cutter in, then throws a sinker away on the black. It’s not fair.”

Derek Jeter was quoted as saying, “He never throws a ball over the middle of the plate,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. “He goes corner-to-corner as good as any pitcher in the game. I’ve said it before, he’s probably the best starter in baseball.”

Torii Hunter was quoted as saying, “He’s the best there is in the game right now. He throws the ball in and out the zone, out and into the zone. He’s one of the best at doing that. There are some pitchers I own, and some pitchers that own me — he’s definitely one of them.”

Asked what makes Roy Halladay the best pitcher in baseball, the Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira widened his eyes with respect and wonder: ‘All his pitches start in the same place and end in a different place.’”

Roy Halladay is a special pitcher that doesn’t come around very often, and now he is a Phillie…

As most of you have heard by now, Eric Bruntlett was officially granted free agency by the Phillies thus ending his career in Philadelphia. Most will remember him for his unassisted triple play against the Mets, him scoring the winning runs in both games three and five of the 2008 World Series, but I will remember him for his beard. Bruntlett’s beard became somewhat of a phenomenon in Philly and, I think, it was mostly stopped him from getting booed non stop.

This brings me to a much more pressing matter. With Bruntlett gone, Park maybe going elsewhere to start instead of staying a reliever, and Pedro Feliz becoming a free agent this team’s facial hair quota is in serious question. I find extreme facial hair to be vital to any winning ball club. The Yankees are the only exception to this rule but hey, they use steroids.

So thanks Beardo for scoring those winning runs, stepping up when Jimmy got hurt in 2008, not being able to hit your own weight, making the Mets 2009 season a little funnier than it already was, and having an epic beard. So long Beardo, you will be missed by some, not so much by others.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving bitches.

Rocktober comes crashing down. BEAT LA.

Brad Lidge delivering strike three, or a ground ball, or fly ball, or out of some kind of out to win the Phillies back to back World Series or…

Ryan Madson is on the mound when IF the Phillies repeat as World F’n Champions. Or would you vote other? Madson seems to be favored currently but I think we all know Charlie is going to sneak Lidge into an appearance, and if he doesn’t blow it he would probably be used again. So Lidge, Madson, or other?

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